Morning After & Other Fairytales oneshots
by Leni
Summary: B/A. Imagine a Buffyverse where the clause had never been. No Angelus, yes. But do Buffy and Angel ever get a fairytale ending? Maybe - but not immediately, that's for sure. Enjoy! I post as I write, so the stories are NOT in chronological order.
1. Yet Another Happily Ever After earlS3

_**DISCLAIMER:** Nope.  
**SUMMARY:** Technically, part of Morning After & Other Fairytales 'verse_ - more about the MA&oF'verse at kitteninthedark (LJ comm). The basics?_ No clause. No 'Innocence'/'Surprise'. No Angelus. This should be somewhere in early S3, not that there's any connection to canon.  
**WORDCOUNT:** 3567  
**FEEDBACK:** Pleeeeeeeeeeease?  
**THANK YOU:** to Sharon, for tempting me. I'm having fun!_

_**note:** If you scroll down at my profile, you'll find the drabbles of the alternate S2. Title is, of course 'Morning After and Other Fairytales'._

_Written for **4purposes** (LJ comm)._

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**YET ANOTHER HAPPILY EVER AFTER  
**_by Leni_

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_**i. the pavements are burning**_

There were blisters on her feet. Raw flesh hit against the rough pavement, once, twice, again and again as she raced forward.

It stung. (but she didn't notice).

The way from school to the mansion had never seemed this long, or this dark (it was blurred by tears; she didn't notice that either). It was night already, a part of her realised. The Hyun ritual was supposed to take place exactly at sundown. They'd been so smug. Save the world via remote, Xander had said. A strong protection spell should have stopped everything from the library...

Willow had been the first to fall unconcious and be carried away.

Finally she was running past doors, through the parlour and into Angel's room. He was awake already, pants unzipped and reaching for a clean shirt as she rushed in. He stared at her, about to ask why she'd come so early. Then he _saw_ her. "What's wrong?"

Everything! Buffy wanted to cry out. She wanted even more to run to him and hide in this room forever. She couldn't. The story was started at its end: "There were too many. I had to... to run." (To leave them). By the time she'd explained what happened at the library, Angel was ready.

He stuck extra stakes in a pocket. When she held out her hand, he offered her the rest. They were standing face to face now. Angel took a second to look at her from head to toes. Her hair was a mess and teartracks ran down her cheeks. He didn't comment, though; he was learning. But he frowned when he reaches her feet. "You are missing a shoe?"

Buffy looked down, blinked. She'd worn two sandals to school today; she was sure. Why did she only have one now? She remembered: A vampire caught her kick... There was a struggle... So this was why her right foot _hurt_. "I lost it."

(Once, when she was seven, she ran along the beach for so long she cried when she realised she'd lost her parents. Then she ran more, bare feet and the burning sand below. Her father chided her while her mom applied some soothing ointment.

She wasn't the Slayer then. Her friends hadn't been kidnapped.

She wishes... It doesn't matter, does it?)

Angel bent and rescued a pair of tennis shoes from under the bed. _Messy at home, messy at my boyfriend's,_ she thought. "Thank you, honey." She wished she had time for a shower, or at least to grab a change of clothes and burn these. They reeked of failure.

But that didn't matter, either.

"How many?" Angel asked while she sat to tie the shoelaces.

"Two dozen, at least." The knot was too tight. "I'm not even sure..." She broke off. She couldn't say it. She had to believe her friends were worth something for this bad guy. She changed tracks. "I'm not sure they'll be at the same place. Played us once, why not twice?"

He didn't say anything. Nothing would soothe her now, anyway. But she felt him take a place beside her; a hand came to rest on her shoulder.

She gave in. "I have no idea where they are." She wanted to cry. She _wanted_. Instead she tied the next shoelace.

The hand rubbed a circle, then another. "We will find them."

She nodded, stood. Began running again.

But this time Angel was running beside her. She bit her lip and thanked God that some routine had been spared tonight. Then added a quick prayer for everyone to survive the night (for her not to be too late. Again).

...the blisters were already healing.

_**ii. where the flames expire, where the spark fades**_

They stayed in the corner until the light at Cordelia's window went out. Angel took her hand as they rounded to walk down the street.

Both thought about the last hours. About the empty building they'd first gone to, the threats they'd made to Willy and the urgency propelling them across Sunnydale to save her friends. They could have talked about the strangeness of vampire wizards, weird even for the Hellmouth. "She let me drive," he said instead.

He sounded mystified. Buffy couldn't blame him. For once, Cordelia Chase had been too upset to drive herself home. But the weird didn't stop there... "She thanked me at her doorstep. I win."

"She always says thank you."

Buffy laughed, but not unkindly. It was simply Cordelia's way to complain first and think of her almost-death later.

Angel also smiled. "Okay. She always thanks _me_." He gave a little shrug when Buffy raised an eyebrow.

"Should I be jealous?"

He didn't dignify that with an answer.

Buffy seemed pensive for a moment. Then, "You could get yourself a car."

A chuckle. "I'm afraid to ask how that is related to our conversation."

"Hey!" Both smiled. She looked down at their linked hands and squeezed, just a little. "I mean it." She did. She'd wanted to bring up the topic for weeks, but had never found a chance. "Oz's van is cool, especially when we need to carry lots of weapons - or a rocket launcher."

Angel nodded.

"But the Dingoes need it when they have a gig outside Sunnydale," she continued. "And Cordelia's car. Well." Buffy remembered the last time they'd needed Cordelia's convertible. Cringed. "Leather and blood don't mix, and she won't let us forget."

Angel made a face. Apparently he also remembered that night. There was silence as Buffy let her boyfriend mull over her idea. "I also like leather seats," he sighed.

Buffy wasn't sure whether that was a yes or a no. However, before she could ask, her back straightened instinctivelly and she moved her hand to a stake under her jacket-

"We have company." Angel's voice was too low for the vampire to catch it.

Buffy responded in kind. "We forgot our _Don't Disturb_ sign."

One minute passed, then another.

"You know, we saved the world tonight. That's the part where the Hellmouth takes a break. Bye-bye, hellish flames. Take a clue?"

They kept walking. The vampire kept his distance.

"I appreciate some spark. _I_ am sparky. But sparky undead is not my idea of fun."

"You're babbling."

She threw her boyfriend an incredulous glare. "_Of course_. I always babble when I'm bored. Sparky here is bo-o-oring me."

"Please don't name him," he pleaded.

She pouted. "Spoilsport." Yet another minute went by and still nothing happened. Finally she sighed impatiently. "Does he want an invitation card?"

Angel seemed to take that into consideration. He turned suddenly, but instead of calling out a challenge as Buffy half-expected him to, he bent towards her and kissed her demandingly. She tried to protest, for a second, then she heard the steps rushing in on them. She took another two seconds to enjoy the kiss before it broke so they'd face their stalker.

As they walked away from the ashes, Buffy rolled her eyes. "I hate voyeurs." Then, to Angel. "You could have warned me." A smug smirk was all the answer she got. "Pig." But she was smiling. She suddenly came to a halt when he led her into Revello Drive. Her house was only three blocks ahead. _Oops!_

"Buffy?" Angel stood beside her, confused.

"Um. I kinda forgot. Rescuing my buddies, fighting darkness. You know how it is." He lifted an eyebrow, signalling he was waiting patiently for an actual explanation. "Well, yeah." She cleared her throat. "I'mstayingwithyoutonight."

Both eyebrows shot up. "_Buffy_."

"Could we talk about this-" She looked around nervously. As if a neighbour would walk by them at two in the morning. "-somewhere else?"

Angel let himself be led back to the street they'd come from. "We've discussed this."

He sounded serious; he always did. Buffy sighed. She couldn't believe she always had to talk him into spending a night together. "So we did. But this time I'm not trying to lie to mom."

He looked unconvinced.

"Keyword: _trying_," she admitted. "I told her I was staying at Will's. Which I was!" she added quickly when she saw his expression. "History quiz tomorrow and we thought we could make with the studying after the spell. Now, though..."

Now, though, after being kidnapped and brutally zapped out of her powers, Willow hadn't been in shape for anything but to sit distractedly in the van's shotgun seat and let Oz drive her home. She took a second to hope there would be no aftereffects for her friend. "Obviously, that plan was shot."

Angel thought it over. "I suppose..."

Buffy pulled her hand from his abruptly. "Gee, don't sound so ecstatic," she began, feeling cross. "You are making me blush!" Once she'd seen that going with Willow wouldn't help, Buffy had begun looking forward to a night at Angel's. And this was his response? Her arms folded over her chest sulkily. She knew she was acting immaturely, but she really didn't understand why Angel made such a big deal out of her staying at the mansion from time to time. It made her feel... unwanted. _Hello, teenage insecurity!_ It was easier to stand between hungry monsters and her best friends than to stand here, knowing that Angel was taking her in under duress.

Most days, she understood him. It wasn't like she _liked_ lying to her mother. She just liked more being with him.

He seemed to catch on to some of her thoughts, because his expression changed as he reached for her. "Hey, you know I'm happy." He brought his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in until her head was resting on his chest. He smirked again. "I'm making you blush?" His hand travelled from her arm to her hip, then snuck under her shirt. It stopped at her waistline, and a finger hooked between the denim and her skin, rubbed softly. "Really?"

Buffy put her hand over his, but only to hold it in place. "Sarcasm." But when she looked up, there indeed was a soft pink spreading over her cheeks. Her smirk was slower, but maybe more mischievious than his. "This could be a lot more interesting if we were in a car."

Angel glanced heavenwards and shook his head.

"Just saying!"

He grumbled something, but she still wasn't sure if it was a yes or a no.

_**iii. at morning in the dark I rise**_

_An abandoned warehouse._

Buffy threads lightly outside, keeping to the darkest shadows. The vampires inside don't know that she's found them. That is her only advantage. The enemy has four advantages over her and she's trying to convince herself that she's fought under worse prospects.

Willow screams.

Buffy moves to leap inside.

A hand on her shoulder stops her.

She turns, aware that there's misery in her eyes. Angel's have only one word in them: Wait.

A part of her knew that she was dreaming. Another knew that she was remembering. But most of her had gone through this scene only six hours ago, and she couldn't let go. She couldn't.

_Willow screams again._

Oz is shouting. So is Xander.

By now they've staked the lone guards in the perimeter and they're moving slowly into the warehouse. Buffy pushes another vampire into Angel's stake as Oz calls out his girlfriend's name.

"Angel!" she hisses. A look. A plea.

He nods.

She sprints towards the main room, hears an arrow fly past her and in another second the vampire holding Willow is dusted.

Cordelia shrieks, pulled aside even as Xander lungs for her.

Buffy has no time for them, too busy holding off five enemies at the same time. She has a glimpse of Angel under similar odds and wonders – Is this it?

She whimpered in her sleep, folding her legs into herself in a protective motion.

The arm around her waist tightened. "Buffy?"

_"Buffy!"_I'm alive, _she wants to ay, but she can't save that much breath._

She stakes a vampire and another takes his place. Two dozen, she'd told Angel earlier, and she'd thought it was bad. This is worse. It's endless. It's useless. It's the only thing she knows: Keep Moving. "Here!" she cries back.

She yelps as her arm is twisted backwards, but a well-aimed kick rids her off that threat. Sweat is running down her face, thicker and faster now. When the vampires recoil in a sudden wave away from her, Buffy understands this heat isn't natural.

Fire!

Oz stands close to the burning crates, Willow leans heavily against him, faint in his arms. Her hands have a diffuse aura around them, and Buffy thanks God she's okay. She must be okay to do spells, right? Meanwhile Cordelia and Xander protect the other couple a best as they can and, when Buffy sees the blood running down Cordelia's neck, she knows that this time they've come too close.

"Buffy!"

The voice isn't Angel's. She whirls around. "Giles!" It's a whisper, really. She makes him out at the other end of the warehouse, too far from her to arrive in his help in time, too far from the fire that protects the others.

"GILES!"

"No!"

It was dark in the room and Buffy tried to breathe through her panic.

No fire. No screams. No danger.

"Again?"

Without a thought, se turned to Angel, brought her arms around his shoulders and clung hard. She knew she should dismiss the dream, be sensible. She should rise and greet the morning – as much as it could be greeted behind Angel's curtains. But a shaky nod was all she could bring herself to do, and she shivered when she felt his hand run soothingly through her hair. "I should be used to them by now."

Nightmares. Once, she'd believed that her troubling Slayer dreams – dire warning with vague specifics – were her curse. Now she knew better: Memories were worse. "It's last night. Willow. And Cordy." A sigh. "Xander has so many scars already." She pictured Xander's arms, covered in pink lines and healing gashes. For all his jokes, he'd taken to long-sleeved shirts.

"It's not your fault."

Buffy fingered the collar of his shirt. She was wearing a similar one, even if she felt her own collar brush the swell of her breasts. She lowered the cloth a little, exposing more of his skin. Last night she'd spied a cut where his neck met his shoulder, a failed attempt to slice his chest open. Bringing her finger to the exact spot, she traced the ghost of the line she'd seen before. Now there wasn't even a mark. Blank slate.

How she wished her life could be like Angel's skin. She shook her head. One wasted wish. And here came another: "I only wish the nightmares would stop."

"They will," he murmured.

"You mean, in another century, take a gypsy's curse or two?"

He stilled.

Buffy closed her eyes, burrowed even closer to him. "I'm sorry." She tasted the words, found that she meant them. Again, with more feeling. "I'm sorry, Angel. I'm being a bitch for nothing."

He didn't answer, but at least he kept holding her, caressing her back reassuringly.

A child being comforted after a nightmare. That, Buffy supposed, was an image just too close to the truth.

_**iv. the world's in love**_

The second time she woke up, Angel was shaking her arm lightly.

She stared up at him, unsure why he was in her room so early. (("You need something to sleep in."

She grabbed the offered item, unfolded it. "Aren't you afraid I'll steal your entire wardrobe?"

"Every single day.")) Right. Not her bedroom.

"Buffy. School," he reminded her. Another gentle shake accompanied his words.

She furrowed her nose a little even as she yawned. "I've been told better good mornings." But she sat up, swung her legs to a side of the bed. "What time is it?" A rethorical question. She was already turning her head to the alarm clock at his bedside, the same he'd bought after the fourth time she'd fallen asleep on his bed after training together. Her eyes widened when she made sense of the red numbers, rushed to her feet and into the bathroom. "Oh my god, Angel. Did you _put me out_ after I freaked on you?" ((She wouldn't let go of him. If only it was so simple to keep her friends safe. "I can lose them so easily."

"They are more resistant than that."

She giggled. She didn't realise she was crying until he dabbed her cheeks with his thumb.))

"You needed your rest," she heard through the door. Sure, and now she'd need to race to school. Face clean, teeth brushed and hair in a high ponytail, she returned to the bedroom and yanked a drawer open.

_Note to self: Bring clothes!_ She bit her lip. There wasn't much to choose from: Two skirts, a pair of jeans and three tops. With tennis shoes as her only shoeware, the actual options dwindled dramatically. She took the jeans and laid them on the bed. Then she looked between the tops and brought out one in each hand. "Which one says 'I'm too cute for an E'?"

"Both."

Buffy turned, a bit surprised. Angel's expression said he meant it. She smiled to herself, suddenly in a better mood. ("Great." She held the ruined shirt before her and shook her head sadly. It hadn't been a favourite, but now only two words could define it: Beyond Salvation. She laid it aside, mumbled to herself. "I must have looked like a scarecrow all the way here." She waited. Then she raised her head and glared at Angel. "That's the part where you say I didn't!") He was learning. Slowly, but surely.

Finally she folded the white top back into the drawer and put the green one beside the jeans. Angel had once said that shade matched her eyes. She nodded to herself, satisfied with her choices. Then she looked at her boyfriend and gave a pointed look at her clothes. "What? You staying for the show?"

He didn't move.

She raised an eyebrow as she reached for the hem of the oversized shirt she was wearing. Angel's eyes narrowed, almost imperceptibly. Buffy felt herself blush, hesitated.

Their gaze broke away. "I wish." Angel gave her a once-over. Suddenly, he was standing in front of her, his lips on hers, his hands at her waist. She returned the kiss eagerly, and was about to put her arms around him when he stepped back. "You _do_ have to go to school." He looked as convinced about that as Buffy herself felt. But he shook his head and loosened his grasp. Buffy pouted, tried to think of something. But he was already walking out.

(He leaned away from the kiss and she made to follow him. The kiss broke, though, and she was left licking her lips for traces of him.

"Sleep." If he'd told her to start dancing a polka, she wouldn't have been more surprised. Her surprise showed through, obviously. It always did. He softened his expression, caressed her hair away from her face. "Sleep now, love. You had a bad night."

"Well, _yeah_. But..."

He drew the covers aside, rose without another word.

She stared. "Angel?"

"I'll be back soon."

She wanted to go after him, to wait for him and tell him that she knew when she was too tired. But she fell asleep before he'd come back.)

She stepped into the parlour, finally ready for a new day. She'd gone through her To Do list as she dressed, and she'd made it as far as 'rush into class when the bell rings'. First, she needed to get to school as soon as the door opened, avoid Snyder until she'd recovered her schoolbag - In the confusion, she'd abandoned it in the library office - and, somehow, she needed enough time for a read-through of the History text she'd be quizzed on.

Angel was already there, and he smiled lightly. An invitation for a goodbye kiss if Buffy had ever seen one. It was too short for her liking, but she didn't complain.

"Here."

She looked down at the small bag he was offering, took it. A flash of green inside made her smile. Her sense of smell wasn't as keen as his, but she knew what she'd find. Apples, maybe a couple sadnwiches and - hopefully - coffee. These days he always had some food around for her, and this was better than asking Xander for some of his snacks for breakfast. "I feel so pampered," she confessed. That, of course, deserved a reward.

This kiss was slower, somehow deeper. More than goodbye, it said thank you, and I don't want to go, I want you to stay, here, with me, in this kiss, in more than this kiss. Finally, a murmur, almost a groan. "Stay?"

She gave him one last kiss, looked into his eyes as she caressed his cheek. "Hold that thought until I'm back."

Angel chuckled. "Tease."

She walked backwards towards the door. Turning around was impossible for now. "And yet you love me."

"And yet I love you," he answered, giving a long resigned sigh. His eyes betrayed him.

She grinned, then remembered a detail. "I'll have to go home first. Prove to mom that I'm alive, and that I had a great time at Will's!" He looked at little guilty and Buffy really didn't care for that sight. She ran back to him, threw her arms around him. Both had to tame this kiss so that she could go and he could let her. It was okay; she'd come back soon. "Wait for me?"

"Always."

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**The End**  
16/11/06


	2. Carte Blanche post Surprise

_**DISCLAIMER:** Begins with J ends with oss.  
**SUMMARY:**_ Carte Blanche: Unconditional terms; unlimited authority._ They have the future in their hands and they don't even know it. Apparently this is the first vignette of my Morning After & Other Fairytales 'verse. For those not in the know, that means Angel didn't lose the soul. This one? It is the morning after. pets  
**WORDCOUNT:** 1227  
**DEDICATION:** to Rachel. Thank you, sweetie, for everything. HUGS  
**FEEDBACK:** puppy eyes_

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**CARTE BLANCHE  
**_by Leni_

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"I should go."

"Mhmmm…."

Angel didn't loosen his arms from around her, though. Neither did she push herself away from him.

"I have school."

"Not for two hours," he reminded her. "I'm keeping you here until then. Deal."

Buffy accepted that in silence, and he knew when she'd closed her eyes again because her body relaxed even further against him. She did it easily, already comfortable in his bed. Angel couldn't believe she'd have left earlier if her movements hadn't woken him up.

She had even been half dressed when he caught her, claiming all the duties he knew could wait until morning. It had taken some sweet talking to get her back into bed, and after that it'd taken a lot of patience to get her to _relax_. Buffy had been a jumpy bundle of nerves, talking non-stop about berserk rainfalls, ruined shirts and birthday parties and the decoration in the apartment. It would have been amusing if he hadn't been so worried that they'd gone too fast, that the dangers of the night had taken them too far away.

Angel had diligently answered each of her quirky questions, bringing her a little closer with each one. Too fast or not, too far away or not, he hadn't been about to let her drift apart. Until eventually Buffy had brought her babble to a halt and fallen asleep.

Now, even though she'd been talking about leaving, she still hadn't moved an inch. She still lay fully on top of him, one arm acting like a pillow between his chest and her cheek while the other moved from resting against his skin to arranging a lock behind her earlobe and back again.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, turning her head so she was looking at him.

Angel frowned questioningly.

"For going Freak Buffy on you. I just…. I woke up and…." She searched into his eyes; whatever she found encouraged her to continue. "I like this. I _really_ do. I just didn't know if you would." The last words were a rush, and the following came even faster. "Which you apparently do. Enjoy, I mean. Like me. And please shut me up before I embaras--"

He shut her up.

A long kiss that made her grasp at his shoulders while he contemplated never letting her go at all. School be damned.

"I… go…" she rasped out between their lips, effectively ending the kiss.

Angel released her, and seconds later he cocked an eyebrow up at her. She was still in the same position. Well, he wasn't sending her away. Sunnydale high school really wouldn't start for a couple hours.

"Guess I should move, huh?" Buffy blushed a little, lowered her eyes to his chest but almost immediately raised them back to his, real alarm in them. "The Judge!"

As he felt her scramble away, Angel added another debt to the ones Spike owed him. He barely reached his girlfriend before she jumped out of the bed. "We have time," he told her, tightening his hold at her elbow just enough to make her pay attention.

She turned and tilted her head, obviously unsure. "He is evil. He is hungry. He could be out… somewhere."

"And Spike would miss the fun?" He chuckled. "That'd be the day."

Buffy seemed dubious, looking between him and her shoes for several seconds. She finally nodded. "He really is a show off, huh?"

Not more than what he'd learned from decades with Angelus, but as she was already leaning back at his side, Angel didn't think it necessary to be mentioned aloud. This time she was resting her head against his outstretched arm, and her body felt warm against his. He found that he also liked this position; it reminded him of when they'd first fallen asleep last night. Besides his knowledge that it had already dawned in the outside world, within his dark apartment the differences were minimal.

He watched her, amazed at how her features, which had started to harden as Buffy remembered her duties as the Slayer, now were smoothed back to the ones of a contented girl. 'Are you happy?' he'd have asked her, maybe, but that was the exact instant when he felt her drift back into sleep.

Angel considered for a second to rush into the kitchen and retrieving a bag of blood from the fridge. He hadn't fed since the last evening, before the party. But he pushed the hunger away. Any noise could wake up Buffy, and he didn't want her to think that he was paying her back. Waking up and finding himself alone after the last night? Not his favourite moment. In fact, it'd been topped by very few in his past; the second before he found her full of insecurity and doubt. No, he wasn't leaving until she woke up.

One hour ran swiftly by, and the next was reaching its end when Angel realised that now it _was_ late. He gently nudged Buffy's shoulder.

"Wha?"

He had to smile. For a girl who'd been ready to run up and out before dawn, now she looked as if she'd grown fond of his sheets. "School will be starting soon, Buffy."

Her nose furrowed, showing her distaste at that notion. "So? You didn't want me to leave earlier." As this was said, she curled against him, some words losing themselves against his side. "Now _you_ deal," she mumbled as she turned around sleepily, as if she could ignore time running if she ignored him.

Angel rolled his eyes. In all his visions of a morning after with Buffy, none of them had included telling her to _leave_ his bed. In fact, those visions were what had made him bring her back earlier despite her protests. He wanted to wake up at her side, properly. And he wanted _her_ to wake up at his side. He may not know Buffy for long, but he loved her, and he did know women. Angel was aware that she'd have never really forgiven him if he'd let her go after their first night together.

This, though, was different. Having her sneak out at three in the morning was one thing. School was another. Especially when there was a worried Watcher waiting for her.

Angel already wasn't looking forward to facing Giles when he found out about this new step in his and Buffy's relationship – and he'd find out soon. Buffy was an open book when her feelings were involved. Considering that the man's opinion was already shaky enough given his raising and education, Angel wouldn't be the one at fault for Buffy being late for school.

He reached for her arms and pulled her to a sitting position. The jostling movement was enough to wake her up, slightly.

"I'm not liking you right now," she said, glaring at him through half-drowsy eyes.

He should have answered: 'But I love you anyway.' In fact, those very words crossed his mind. But they had trouble reaching his lips, and he finally let them be. Maybe later; they had time later. "Up now, Buffy," he said instead.

But she'd stubbornly moved forward and back into him. "Mmmhmmmm…." He heard as her head furrowed against him. Her breath was hot against his shoulder and Angel sighed, couldn't help but put his arm around her, holding her.

This could take some time.

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**The End**  
14/08/06

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_Feedback is love!_


	3. Halloween Take II

**DISCLAIMER:** Nope.  
**SUMMARY:** Morning After & Other Fairytales 'verse. Set in a parallel BtVS3. _It was strange for a first step in better relations with Buffy's friends, but this was the Hellmouth, and stranger things had happened..._  
**WORDCOUNT:** 1345

_Written for Raya. **Prompt:** jack'o lantern._

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**HALLOWEEN, TAKE II  
**_by Leni_

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Angel had seen many weird things in this library: Severed tentacles that had crawled out of the Hellmouth, Joyce acting like a teenager, Cordelia and Xander kissing... but all those paled in comparison to this.

He'd barely stepped into the room when he caught sight of his girlfriend. He had to laugh at the picture of her.

Buffy swirled at the sound and, blushing, managed to scowl at him. A darker glare came when her friends joined him with some giggles. Angel coughed, a successful attempt to check his laughter, and tried to look understanding. It didn't work. "You're really doing it?" He couldn't help it if he sounded amused. He _was_ amused.

"Snyder didn't get any more human this year, and apparently he was 'pleased' with my performance last year."

"Didn't you lose your kids?"

"Believe me, I reminded him." She sighed. "He _smiled_. It was very scary."

Angel nodded, knowing better than to point out she'd faced scarier things than a creepy principal. To steer her off the subject (or she'd go on forever and then the other kids would chime in their personal protests against the man), he smiled and took her hand, taking a step back to look carefully over her costume. "What are you?"

"Oh man." Xander sighed as he shook his head disapprovingly. "Join the century?"

Angel ignored the boy; but Buffy's expression reflected that same thought. "Weeeeeeell, I thought I'd go as this really cool girl who studies by day and saves the world by night, but I thought wearing a 'Slayer' sign would be confusing."

"And not good for your secret identity," Willow piped in.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Please. As if anyone in this town didn't know it already."

"Supergirl."

Angel looked at Oz with a frown.

"My costume," Buffy explained, and she turned around to show it off. "Close enough, don't you think?" she asked when she faced him again. Angel hoped she wasn't expecting an answer. She wasn't. She'd obviously forgotten she'd asked something when she suddenly smiled dreamily. "And I thought, well, if anyone does the same mojo as last year it'll be really cool to be able to fly."

Behind her Cordelia gave a small snort. "Nice to see she's got her priorities straight. _What?_" she added at her boyfriend's look. "Last Halloween she had all the fun playing princess while I was stuck saving her. I'd like a whimpering-free night this time, thanks."

Buffy rolled her eyes and her lips moved in what Angel guessed was a prayer for patience. Or a quiet insult. But otherwise she didn't answer. Instead she happily focused back on him. "Why are you here? Not that I'm not happy, I am!" she was quick to add. "It's just that...well, you, uh...."

Avoided the high school, and especially the library, as much as he could under the circumstances? Thankfully nobody commented, not even Xander. Angel shrugged; he'd thought to take Buffy out tonight, make the most of the only night in the year where she wouldn't feel guilty at being on a date instead of patrolling. "Doesn't matter now," he said instead. It really didn't. She had other plans, and the other guys had Bronzing written clearly in their eyes. He didn't want to ruin her night out with her friends, if that was what she chose - and he didn't want her to feel she had to choose.

"Maybe there's an Apocalypse. Angel always brings the best news," Xander groused, obviously only half-joking.

Buffy considered that. "I'd take the End of the Days over herding a pack of sugar-high kids," was her final decision. She looked hopefully at her boyfriend.

He shook his head. "I just thought...." But there were four curious faces that weren't Buffy's and he trailed off. He should be used to the Scooby's constant presence, but somehow he'd believed that tonight he could have Buffy all to himself. Turned out that he'd share her with primary school children first, and between that and the Bronze, Angel doubted she'd have any time for him left.

"You thought?" Buffy prodded.

"Nothing important."

Buffy looked disappointed but didn't call him on it. The four behind her wisely kept quiet.

Then Oz coughed. "Five past seven."

Buffy gasped and her eyebrows shot up in alarm. "I'm five minutes late! Snyder can't expel me for five minutes, can he?" Nobody looked too reassuring. Buffy heaved a big sigh. "Damn. I swear, if some big monster ever tries to eat him, I'm _so_ not helping him!" she huffed as she hurried out of the library, her short cape fluttering behind her.

Angel turned around to follow. If Buffy wasn't here, then his business was over. It had been uncomfortable to come within these doors in the first place, and he looked forward to ending the experience. Whatever Buffy said, he felt the library didn't welcome him anymore - if it ever really had.

"Angel, wait!"

He stopped and turned back towards the voice. Willow took a deep breath for valour. "Is it true that demons lay down tonight?"

Were they planning to go somewhere else than to the Bronze? "In most places," he answered truthfully, "but here...." He didn't think he needed to say more. Surely they'd remember last year's disaster, and it wasn't as if they'd managed to keep track of Rayne afterwards.

"So you aren't going to patrol?" Willow continued.

Angel frowned at the oddity of the question, not the question itself but rather that it'd been addressed to him. Buffy's friends and he rarely interacted unless she was present or the world was at stake. "Guess not."

Willow grinned and gave a meaningful look at her boyfriend. Oz was better than Angel deciphering the meaning. He immediately got up, went to the office and when he came back, he was carrying a...

"A Jack'o lantern?"

"That he knows?" Cordelia sounded really surprised.

Willow was still smiling. "We thought you might want to put it at your front door tonight."

Angel accepted the offered pumpking, mostly because he was too surprised not to. He blinked, though, trying to find the right comment to accept this - gift?

"Trick or treat, man," Xander interrupted. "Please say you know about _that_."

Angel thought he was getting good at ignoring Xander. He raised a questioning eyebrow at Willow.

The girl nodded. "What Xander said. We thought someone might knock on your door, ask for candy, you know."

"But I don't have any candy." He furrowed his brow. So many months around these kids and they were still a mystery when they tried. And, oh, were they trying now!

Willow also frowned, shook her head a little. That small gesture that said someone hadn't understood what she wanted to say, and that it was rather simple. Angel was sad to admit it was a look normally reserved for Buffy during Calculus tutoring.

"Come on, Angel. Someone!" Xander groaned. "_Someone_ as in blonde, five feet something, currently dressed in a very tight, very... ouch!"

Cordelia crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her boyfriend.

"A fitting costume." Willow turned to Oz, eyebrow high. The boy shrugged. "A superhero outfit for a real life superhero. It's fitting." He scratched his chin. "Kind of ironic, too." He chuckled to himself, then smiled at Willow. She smiled back.

"That's what I meant!" Xander cried. "Fitting, not tight. Aren't they synonymous?"

Both girls rolled their eyes.

Angel took his chance to leave while the four bickered - well, the three. Oz just nodded when Willow said something and looked kindly at Xander as he was assaulted by both girlfriend and best friend. He took the jack'o lantern with him, on a whim. It was strange for a first step in better relations with Buffy's friends, but this was the Hellmouth, and stranger things had happened...

...such as Xander's voice calling out to him. "We'll send her your way, Dead Boy!"

For once, Angel almost didn't mind the nickname. Maybe he could still enjoy this quiet night as he'd first planned to.

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**The End**  
04/11/06

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**FEEDBACK:** Yes, please?


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